Dozens were killed in a stampede as mourners packed the streets for the funeral of a slain military Iranian commander in his hometown of Kerman yesterday.
Tens of thousands gathered to pay tribute to General Qassem Soleimani, whose killing in a US drone strike in Iraq on Friday plunged the region into a new crisis and raised fears of a broader conflict.
A senior Iranian official said Teheran was considering several scenarios to avenge his killing. Other senior figures have said Iran will match the scale of Soleimani's killing when it responds but that it will choose the time and place.
The stampede broke out amid the crush of mourners, killing at least 40 people and injuring about 213, an emergency services official told the semi-official Fars news agency.
Iran's ISNA news agency said the burial of Soleimani had been postponed, but did not say how long any delay would last.
Soleimani's body had been taken to Iraqi and Iranian cities before arriving in Kerman for burial. In each place, huge numbers of people filled thoroughfares, weeping and chanting: "Death to America."
Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said 13 "revenge scenarios" were being considered. Even the weakest option would prove "a historic nightmare for the Americans," he said.
In Washington, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper denied reports that the military was preparing to withdraw from Iraq.
US and Iranian warnings of new strikes and retaliation have also stoked concerns about a broader Middle East conflict and led to calls in the US Congress for legislation to stop President Donald Trump going to war with Iran.
